The Things You Can't See
by Are You Afraid of the Dark
Summary: Arc 1Tail of a Siren: Zexion is a college student on a trip to Greece with his class. Demyx is weird. 'Why won't this guy stop following me' 'was that a TAIL? Nah, immpossible...right' The immpossible just took on new possibility. DemZex Arc 1 of 6
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This fic is hereby back by popular demand after it was pulled form AFF when my account was deleted. I have gone back and re-written parts of it and fixed some of my mistakes, so hopefully it is better…I'm glad so many people liked this story, and My Life's a Soap Opera too. I figured that no one would remember them once they were gone, and surly they wouldn't actually go looking for them?

I was wrong, and I have never been happier to know that. Thank all of you who e-mailed and PMed me, telling me to get my lazy ass in gear and re-post this :D I hope you enjoy it as much the second time around!

_ Don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of their associated names and other copywriten things….I own nothing but the oc's in this, and even then they don't technically belong to me, really…._

_I am un-sueable, since no one would get anything out of me if they tried. I'm broke._

**Prologue**

"You're nuts. I always knew you were nuts, but this just takes the cake. How do you plan on doing all of this at once? I have told you you're nuts, right?"

"Multiple times, dear, multiple times."

"I mean, for one thing," the first continues as if he hasn't heard his companion as he hovers behind her and peers over her shoulder. He curious despite what he is saying. "how are you going to get them where they need to be? They're all in the wrong places, and second of all- oh, and is second of all a doosy or what!- how will you choose the right people for them? If they don't catch their attention right away, you'll have a case of multiple homicide on your hands….."

"Trial and error."

"……"

"……"

"……"

"You know I was just kidding, right?"

"……"

"I was just kidding."

"….I don't put anything past you."

"I love you too, dear."

"I'm sure."

They both go back to watching the water in the large golden bowel in front of her. He is still leaning over her shoulder, making negative comments every now and then to the faces that appear in it's surface, until she comes upon one on which she stops.

" _Him?"_

"_**Him."**_

**Arc One: Tail of the Siren**

**Part one: First Meetings at the Beach**

"Would you like something to drink, sir?"

I glanced up form my book for what seemed like- and probably was- the first time since the plane had taken off. my eyesight blurred slightly as I focused on the pretty young girl standing patently in front of me with a cart covered in various liquids. She was smiling gently, something that the last stewardess hadn't done.

….Well, the last one had smiled, but to tell the truth, it had looked quite painful, and had given the impression that she would have rather been anywhere else at that moment.

I shook my head silently and her focus traveled to the guy sitting beside me. He smiled cheekily up at her form behind his computer screen, and her smile became a bit more forced. She probably expected him to make some kind of move on her, but instead he just ordered a who a coke and some kind of alcohol before focusing his attention back on the words he was typing out in his lap.

Sighing softly, I went back to my book. I wanted to get it done before we reached our destination, which I had a hundred and fifty pages left to read in--I checked my watch--forty-five minuets. Well, ok, maybe I wouldn't get it finished. I was a fast reader, but I wasn't superhuman. I figured I could get as much as possible in, however.

I was just finishing the third-to-last chapter by the time out wheels touched the runway. Tucking my book safely and neatly back into my carry-on, I stood silently and waited for an opening to present it's self in the line of people filing to the exit. Once one presented it's self, I slid carefully out, closely followed by the guy who had been seated next to me. He took one look around the air port as we stepped out into the bright, hot sun and began grumbling something unhappy sounding to himself.

I ignored him.

Once I was cringing in the glaring light and warm summer heat of the Greek Isle known as Santorini, I scanned the air port for the group of people I had come with. It only took me a moment to pick them out; My teacher's brightly colored dress stood out like a malfunctioning traffic light. Several of my classmates were already huddled around her, gazing at their surroundings in awe.

I didn't see why. It looked like any other airport runway; long strip of concrete and tar, concluding it's self at the white glass and concrete building behind us. I rolled my eyes discreetly to myself as I stopped a few feet away from them with one or two of my other companions, refusing to join in the mass huddle of gawking college students huddles around our professor.

What a bunch of idiots. It was like they had never seen a landing strip before.

Actually, It looked slightly barren, but that was just this part. It would probably be better once we got in the building.

That is, if everyone would just get there sorry asses together long enough to actually move without tripping over one another.

There were about fifteen of us on the trip. Not very many, by any means. It only took a minuet or two- one we finally got in the building- to get our luggage.

"Now." Out professor, Mrs. Mulligan, began as we stopped in the center of the crowded food court. "We are all staying at a hotel in Fira. It's only about twenty minuets form here. Also, we will have to get out money exchanged for Euros…" Most of the others were drowning her out in favor of twisting this way and that, searching, I have no doubt, for a McDonalds or something of that sort.

Conveniently, there was a place in the airport where we could exchange our American dollars for the common currency in Greece. On my way over, I accidentally bumped into someone who was headed in the opposite direction of me. It was barely a knock on the shoulder, but I heard him drop his things on the floor behind me. Since I was in a hurry to keep my class and I'm pretty sure my teacher was speed walking, I didn't even bother looking back, much less stopping to help. It was a minor incident, and almost immediately forgotten.

An hour and a half later, we were finally checking into the hotel that would be our home for the next three days, until we headed out to the next island on our list. We stopped and once again the majority huddled around as the professor explained the finer points of what she was expecting form us over the duration of our stay.

You see, we weren't here on vacation or anything. The class I was with was my Ancient Mythology class. We had traveled to Greece to "Take in the atmosphere of the place that created some of the most famous legends in the world."

Our professor was a very young woman, probably in her early thirties, with nicely cut and well kept blond hair sweeping about her shoulders, clear tan skin, and (I have to agree-grudgingly- with the majority of the boys in my class on this one) a nice and rather robust rack.

Unfortunately, she also had a sense of humor, as was evident in her lesson plan for this two week excursion she had taken us on.

We were going to travel among some of the Greek Isles, and for each Isle she had a game made up for us. "kind of a mix between a Scavenger hunt and a Riddle game." She had explained when questioned and had refused to elaborate further.

I tuned her out for the most part, since she had been repeating the same basic instructions for two weeks by this time. We were to share a room with one other person for cost efficiency, we were to carry cell phones at all times, which were to be kept fully charged and operational, and we were not supposed to leave the island or wander further than a two mile radius form the hotel in either direction.

I'm not rude, honest, I just don't like haring the same thing repeated more than once. It seems like a waste of time.

My musings (not daydreams, daydreams are frivolous wastes of time) were interrupted by a small white piece of paper being thrust under my nose. I prepared to glare menacingly at whatever idiot had invaded my _very_ personal bubble, but realized at the last second that it was the professor herself. I quickly toned down my look to an annoyed glance as I took what ended up being my room assignment and key card from her. Nodding briefly, I gathered up my carry-on, suit case and book bag from the floor where I had dropped them to give my fingers and arms a chance to regain circulation, and walked gingerly to the stairs. It would be harder, but everyone else was going by elevator, and I would be damned to hell before I got into a tiny metal box with that many people.

Consequently, I was sweating a bit and may have been a little short of breath when I finally opened the plain white door bearing the shiny brass numbers 305 on the third floor. My room mate, a tall, sturdy looking blond, was already in the room pulling a new change of clothes form his own suitcase and setting them aside on the bed closest to the door. I made no comment as I swept past him to the other bed by the window. I was hoping to avoid unnecessary conversation, since I was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a social person. Luckily, the guy seemed to realize this when I didn't even so much as glance his way, and after a few silent awkward seconds he quietly went back to whatever it was that he had been doing when I had arrived.

I sat on my bed and ended up staring out the window, waiting for him to get done so we could go down together. (it was one of the professor's requests that we stay together at first so we wouldn't get lost, but I was planning on ditching him as soon as we were out of her sight.) In the distance, I could see the cliffs that led out to the ocean.

Santorini was in the shape of a backwards C with four smaller islands --Therasia, Nea Kameni, Palea Kameni, and Aspronisi -- in the lagoon it forms. It was an island with steep cliffs surrounding the beaches, caused by long since silenced volcanic activity, and many ports for the boats going between it and the other islands.

In a word (or three) it was beautiful. All of the rock formations were striped with red, white and grey layers of Volcanic sediment, creating gorgeous patterns.

Now if only it wasn't so damn sunny.

I heard the shuffling from Blondie's side of the room still for a moment before he announced that he was done and we could go downstairs now. His voice had a bit of an accent to it, and was deep and calm. I remembered hearing him speak out several times during class and remembered that he loved to make comments that he and some of my other school mates seemed to find witty.

Now that I thought about it, he was the type of person who generally annoyed me.

Goody.

I stood without comment and followed him to the elevator, thankful that it was just the two of us this time.

We were the last ones down, much to my great annoyance. When we reached the lobby, I sat on one of the large, stuffed armchairs. It was squishy and comfortable and I was rather pleased that I had gotten it before someone else, despite the fact that I was one of he last down. The others had taken up seats on one long couch in front of the television they had set up amongst some marble tables with vases filled with fake flower. The place was obviously supposed to look like a living room to make their guests feel more comfortable, but I figured that they would probably have an easier time of it if it didn't look like something out of a Victorian house form the seventeen hundreds…all stiff and formal.

For God's sake people, if you want 'relaxing' try using greens and blues…they're the colors that scientists say to use, not maroon and red….those colors supposedly make you hungry and giddy…

So unless you want a bunch of nervous people eating your couches, I would suggest you change your color scheme.

The sad thing is, I think they were going for 'elegant', but that's a little off topic.

"Now class!" the Professor cried excitedly (a little _too_ excitedly, I noted with a wince. Why did she always have to be so damn _cheerful?!) _"I'm going to give you your assignments now-- no, don't groan, you don't even know what they are yet-- and you have the next three days to get them done before we go on to the next island and your next assignment…" here she reached into a plastic Wal-mart and began to pull out those little white paper bags that you get donuts in. They were stapled together at the top and had each of our names written across them in curly black sharpie.

I had honestly expected Zebra multi-colored pens, and wasn't sure if I was relieved or disappointed at being wrong.

"Now," she continued. "Don't open these until you are outside." Everyone exchanged curious looks and a moment of silence fell upon the group, since we were expecting her to say more as in regards to what the hell we were supposed to be doing

. She just blinked at all of us. "Well, off you go! I have sight seeing to do, and you are all old enough to take care of yourselves. Don't get kidnapped, don't get killed, and for heavens sakes, don't take candy from strangers. Now off with you!"

The silence became surprised and amused as she stood and strutted to the door of the hotel. She turned back around once her hand touched the door knob and called across the room to us. "Oh! And be back here at seven so we can all go out and eat dinner together, hmm?"

Then she was gone.

With one last confused, amused and exceedingly pleased look at each other, everyone had cleared the hotel in less than a minuet.

Well, Everyone but me. I still sat on the chair, a small frown on my face, wondering how the hell I had ended up with a teacher who didn't just give us a book and a test like all of the others. After a moment's speculation, I figured that it was just my luck (if you believed in such a thing, anyway) and that this was my lot and I would have to deal with it, like it or not.

Opening the bag slowly, I looked in, blinked, took the items out, just to be sure I hadn't seen them wrong, and blinked again.

In my hand was two sheets of paper and a small disposable Camera.

What….the hell?

Setting down the green and white striped flashy thing of doom (I hated cameras as I had never really seen myself as photogenic) on the glass coffee table, I opened the thicker sheet of paper. (One was a piece of regular notebook paper, the other was some heavier printer paper.) It read;

Dear Class,

I have thought up some fun little riddles for all of you. Solve the riddle and go the place or thing designated by the answer. Have someone take a picture of you with the thing or place. When our little trip is over, I will collect the cameras and have the photos developed. If you have a photo of everything on the list I gave you (WITH YOU IN IT!) Then you will get a good grade. Anything less and you fail. They aren't that hard! And you CAN ask for help!

Love,

your Adoring Teacher

Smoochies! 3

If I hadn't been in Greece, I would have asked for a class transfer right then and there.

She signed with 'Smoochies!' and a heart, for God's sake!

Sighing I picked the other piece of paper up and tucked the camera away in my shoulder bag that I always carried with me. I stood and made my way outside to the busy streets, people walking past me on the sidewalk, tourists and natives alike. Pulling out my map of the island (I had bought it at the airport) I noted that the island was too big for her to expect us to go running around it and still get our pictures, so that meant that the things she wanted the pictures to be of had to be in the general area. I pulled out the notebook paper and scanned it. There were three riddles neatly printed on it. I frowned as I read over them, dancing out of the way of trampling feet as I did so. They read

1. I have caused several earthquakes

It's theorized I have caused Tsunamis

I should be painfully obvious and right in your line of site, no matter where you look.

What am I?

2. When I'm dried I make a tasty treat.

Here, you will see more of me as an aged liquid.

When growing, I am in the shape of a basket.

What am I?

3. I was once feared by the sailors of Greece,

But I was once defeated with beeswax.

Beware of me when sailing.

Who am I?

I arched an eyebrow. These were supposed to be riddles? They looked like they were written by a bored student with nothing to do but write stories about characters from a video game, or something. Snorting, I almost stuffed them back into my pocket. But, if I didn't follow the instructions, then I would get a failing grade. Oh, what's a boy to do?

Le sigh.

I skimmed the 'clues' again. I could probably solve them rather quickly, if I had wanted to really think about it. But honestly, I didn't. Why put that much brain power into it? Besides, it would require studying the island and walking around, which is what I'm sure she was after, but I would much rather do it my own way and then study for a book test.

I stopped at the third 'clue.' I was more than willing to bet that she was referring to the lagoon. (As if she could be any more or less obvious, what with all the sailing references…) The part about fear and beeswax kept pulling at my mind, telling me it was familiar and I should really know what it meant (don't you just hate that feeling, like you _know_ you are forgetting something very important, but, since you are forgetting it, you haven't got a clue as to what it is? It doesn't happen to me often, but when it does, like at that particular point in time, it drives me nuts.)

Heaving a very put-upon, mental sigh, I headed in the directions of the cliffs I had seen form my window. Might as well see if I could get down to the water and take a look anyway. Something I see, I figured, might jog my memory. It wasn't like it was a long walk, anyway, and it seemed as good a place as any to start.

The cliffs were very high. On average, about two hundred meters from top to bottom, and while not impossible to scale or to descend, from where I was standing looking down, it looked very, very steep. I would have to be careful going down or I would end up a pile of broken bones at the bottom with several painful hours between my fall and potential rescue.

I worked my way carefully around a rather large rock that was protruding in my way. The going was a little rough considering the slope was covered in loose pieces of rock and the breeze was a bit stronger and constantly changing direction. At one point it even blew up, right at me.

I hadn't been planning on going far down the cliffs. I have this thing about water, and no matter how pretty it was, I wasn't willing to get to close, especially when I was alone. But as that gust of cool salt air hit me, I heard it; a faint, lilting whisper that was gone almost as soon as it was there. I stood still for a moment, straining to hear it again. The disappointment I felt when the cove remained elusively silent was exceedingly disproportionate with the cause.

I battled with myself, since I was really unwilling to risk descending much further down steep, loose rock, but my curiosity was beginning to get the better of me. No boat could have made that sound. No, it had sounded more like a human voice, but from my rather spectacular vantage point, I could see no one on the small strip of sand below me.

But, a small, unused voice called contagiousness in the back of my mind whispered, surly going down just a _little _further wouldn't hurt anything, if I was careful. Biting my cheek, I slide and slipped down a couple more feet. Still, nothing of the elusive sound no singer came to view nor ear. I was just about to give up when another blast of cool air hit me and I heard it again, this time much closer. The soft, lilting voice drifted mournfully up to me, almost begging me to find it's source. My cause renewed, I figured that _just a little further_ couldn't possibly hurt, even as the wind changed again and the sound slipped away like smoke.

Slipping my way a little further, I decided that this was defiantly a better past time than looking for things that grow in the shape of baskets. This was interesting. My 'assignment' ….well …wasn't. So instead of turning back the first time I felt a sharp, warning pain form my ankle as it slid the wrong way out from under me like I normally might have, I kept going.

The going got annoying somewhere between the sixth and seventh time I nearly twisted my ankle, but every time I considered just giving up and going back to the hotel or the city, the breeze would go my way again and I would catch a snatch of that sound, and my curiosity renewed, along with a feeling that, no matter if I died in the process, I just _had_ to find to find the source of the song…I just wanted to _see_ this person….

I _had_ to see this person. The desire was becoming all but mind consuming.

Soon, I was low enough to make out the fact that the song was in a language that I didn't know, though I knew several. Maybe it was Greek? That would, after all, make sense.

It was sad. Oh so very sad. Though I couldn't understand the words, I knew that the story the song told did not have a happy ending. Just the way it was sung had my heart aching.

It was probably a good thing that I was only a few feet from the beach by this point, because it was about then that I made a miscalculation in my footing and tripped, tumbling the last ten or so feet down the slope, loose rock racing me to the bottom. I ended up in a heap in the soft, slightly rocky sand at the foot of the incline, covered in dirt, cuts and bruises, but, to my relief, otherwise unharmed.

I was also thinking clearer because the little cove I was in was eerily silent.

The singing had stopped.

Sitting up, I winced as I felt my neck pop slightly.

"owwie…." I grumbled, looking my self over, checking the lightly bleeding cuts that lined my arms and gently poking places that I just _knew_ would be lovely shades of black and blue the next day. I was prodding around my face, where I was sure there would be some fantastic marks later as I stood gingerly. I sighed in relief as I found that I was able to put my weight on both of my legs without any pain.

It was then that the absence of singing actually crept into my mind and registered as wrong. This wasn't really surprising-though it was disappointing- since my impromptu trip had been rather noisy, and probably would have scared the living daylights out of anyone who thought they were alone.

I looked up from gingerly dusting off my pants to see if the source of the object of my little quest was still even around, though I couldn't really imagine how they would have slipped past me, distracted though I was.

The first thing I saw was a pair of Sea Green eyes staring, startled and curious, back at me from a rock two or so yards out from where the sand disappeared into the water. This took a moment to register as well.

(I think the fall had scrambled my brains a bit.)

I blinked.

The eyes blinked back.

As I recovered form my initial surprise, I finally took in the sight of the person that the eyes were connected to. It was a male,-as was made obvious by the fact that he was not wearing a shirt. (Of course, it was either that, or he had the flattest chest on a woman I had ever seen).

Was _he_ the person that had been singing that beautiful song?

He had the plush yet angular face of a young teenager. His large, bemused eyes, made wider by the surprise of having someone drop in on him so suddenly, gave him a youthful, childish appearance. (I was willing to label him somewhere between the ages of fifteen and seventeen.) His hair was a dark, dirty blond, long in the back, but swept up and short on the sides and the front, creating a hairstyle you might expect to see on a kid at a rock concert. Some of the hair, in an act of hair-type rebellion, I suppose, had escaped whatever it was he had used to make it stand on end like that. The soft tendrils were falling in his face and around his high cheekbones, rounding them off and giving them a soft look to match the rest of his face.

His chest, arms and stomach, in contrast, were devoid of the baby fat his face still possessed. While he was lean enough for me to be able to see the vaguest outline of his ribcage, he had the build of a powerful swimmer.

I couldn't see much past his hips because of the way he was sitting on the rock with his legs folded over beside him and dipping down to the water, no doubt soaking his feet in the strong, foamy waves. What I could see were the sharp, angular bones of his hips and that the swim trunks he was wearing turned from grey to a stormy blue, and back again as the water around him shifted. I wondered what kind of material it was. It looked almost like it had been made of scales.

It was kind of cool.

It took me only a moment to note all of this and store it away in my mind for later possessing. We just stared at one another for a few moments more before I lifted my hand in a half-assed wave, figuring that if I was going to try and get him to sing again, staring silently wasn't the way to go.

"Hey." I mumbled, trying not to sound to enthusiastic, or like some idiotic tourist that had bumbled his way down a slope in some idiotic attempt to get some culture.

The effect was instantaneous, but no the kind I really wanted. The boy jumped as if he had been electrocuted and slid off the rock, diving straight into the water.

I opened my mouth to try and reassure him, calm him down, get him to stay, but the words died in my throat before they even got a chance to live.

"Was that…..a tail?"


	2. Chapter 2

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews, and Apologize for the fact that it took me so long to get this chapter out…

**Intermission**

"Why _him_?"

The question is puzzled and more than a bit amused. The image of the boy shimmers and shifts in the water.

"Because…." his companion tells him, a devious smile on her face. "He's like a catalyst, passing on the gift to the others. From him it will pass hands until it is all used up."

He looks at her suspiciously.

"Others? So you have them picked out already?" At her nod, he narrows his eyes. "Just how long exactly have you been planning this?"

She simply grins at him.

He groans in exasperation.

**Arc One: Tail of the Siren**

**Part Two:**

By the time I made it back to my hotel room I had managed to convince myself that the boys lower extremities had _defiantly_ not consisted of fins and scales.

Because that was impossible.

There was no fucking way that kid was a fish.

None.

My eyes had been playing a trick on me.

I made a mental note to myself to visit my optometrist as soon as we set foot back in the states.

I looked at my reflection in the foggy bathroom mirror. (I had arrived before my room mate and decided to take a shower.) I scowled at my reflection and my identical twin in the looking glass scowled right back at me, looking as displeased with my appearance as I felt.

I really was to thin, I decided, focusing on my dislike for my own physical appearance to keep my mind away from _his_ _not fish-like one_. I was to thin, but I could never gain weight, no matter what or how much I ate. I knew to enjoy it though, because once I hit thirty or so, all of that would change. It had happened to my dad.

And there was no way in hell you would ever catch me trying to get a tan. I just end up looking like a cooked lobster anyway.

My eyes traveled down to the fluffy, damp white towel wrapped around my waist. Before I could stop myself, my mind traveled back to that afternoon in the cove. Had that been _him_ singing? It had been absolutely beautiful…I wondered who he was…or _what_ he was-

I shook my head vigorously at that last thought, giving my cheeks an extra hard pinch. He was a human in an odd bathing suit with a penchant for looking like a fish, that was all.

I once again dismissed the thought, dropping the towel and dressing quickly. Maybe if I hurried, I'd be able to finish my book and start the other one I had brought before dinner time. Maybe even before my room mate…er….what's-his-face…got back. I pulled a fresh t-shirt on ( a gift from Yuffie, a Distant cousin of mine. I had met her a few months ago when she came over to visit with her brother Cloud. How was I supposed to know that she was a 'Great Ninja Theif' when I had complained about not being able to afford the shirt? Though I should have expected it. She's from Japan.) before wandering into the main area of the room. I grabbed the book from my bag and plopped down in one of the comfortable, squishy arm chairs and picked the story back up from where I had left off.

When the last page was turned and the hero had won, I looked up and was surprised to find my room mate exiting the bathroom wet and wearing an loose pair of pants and a towel, rubbing at his short blond hair.

I had been so absorbed in my book that I hadn't even heard him come in, and that irritated me no end.

Catching me watching him, he gave me a friendly smile and looked as if he were about to ask me something. However, at my lack of returning smile and all around blank, unfriendly stare, the words seemed to falter on his tongue and he frowned back. I stood silently and put my book away, only to grab the other one I had brought with me.

As I did so, my hand brushed the camera I was supposed to be using for my assignment, and that nagging feeling, the one that made me feel like I was forgetting something important, rose to my mind again. It was annoying and I growled softly, causing my room mate to give me a strange look. He didn't say anything though, just pulled on his clothes and left the room.

What was it! I paced for a moment, irritated before I plopped back down in the chair and took to twirling the book in my hands distractedly. I normally have a wonderful memory, photographic, almost, so why couldn't I remember whatever it was that was bothering me!

Distractedly, I glanced at my watch. The time was six fifty-seven. Time for me to head down to the dinning room for dinner.

I stood and stretched, grabbing and donning a navy blue hoodie as I left the room, to hide my arms, just in case. (not only that but I have a problem retaining body heat. Unless it's above eighty, I don't go anywhere without my hoodie or a jacket.)

I was the last one downstairs. There was one seat left at the farthest end of the table, and nobody noticed when I sat down, or, if they did, they chose to ignore it and pretend they didn't. That suited me just fine. I tuned out the conversations going on around me until the weightier came and took all of our orders (most of the people there seemed surprised to see me seated at the table, and my room mate shot me an amused look, which I ignored.).

I went back to thinking. I knew that if I didn't find out what ever it was that was bothering me, I would never get any sleep that night.

Unbidden, the image of that boy, sitting half naked on the rocks and staring at me in shock floated to my mind. Before I could stop myself I watched, in my minds eye, as he jumped, startled by the sound of my voice and slid into the water….

Hmmm….

Voice….

Had that been him singing? I wondered again. I fingered the book I had brought with me to the supper table. _The Odyssey_. Rather bored and desperately wanting to turn my attention away from the memory of his beautiful, haunting voice, I began flipping thought the pages and reading snatches of the words.

_After we were clear of the river Oceanus….._yada yada

…_..We cut firewood from a wood where the headland jutted out into the sea, and after we had wept over him and lamented him …._blah blah….

…_too close and hears the singing of the Sirens,_…wait…

I paused for a second on this, my brain snapping in to focus on the sentence among the others, as it drew a link between what I had been thinking of earlier and what my eyes had just shown it.

That nagging feeling was back and stronger than ever. I stopped flipping the pages and found the quote again, reading the passage around it.

"_First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song. There is a great heap of dead men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting off them._"

A chill shot uncomfortably down my spine, and I shuddered. That was defiantly not something I had wanted to read before eating, since I have a rather detailed imagination.

As chance would have it, the waiter chose that moment to bring me the steak I had ordered, medium rare.

I suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. Imagining thoughts of water logged and rotting corpses floating around in the cold murky sea just didn't do wonders for my appetite.

Well, it did, but not in a good way.

I shifted uncomfortably and pushed my plate away.

"Zexion, is something the matter?"

I looked up from where I had been distastefully eyeing the pink, juicy hunk of meat to find the whole table watching me. The professor, who had been the one to call the attention to me in the first place, smiled over at me kind of smugly, like she knew something I didn't.

That would have irritated me if I hadn't been so busy having an inner panic attack.

You see, part of the reason I don't draw attention to myself, is that it makes me severely uncomfortable, even more so than the imagery in that book. I tend to panic without reason when more than two or three people are paying attention to me at one time.

I'm not sure why. I guess it's just one of those introvert things.

"No." I finally managed to choke out once I got over my initial shock of being stared at by so many fucking people! "Everything is fine."

One by one, they all turned back to each other and forgot about me again, and I let out a sigh of relief. Dinner continued without another incident, though I was unable to eat my food (even though I knew I was going to regret it later). Just to be polite I remained seated and quiet. I did, however, end up catching the professor's eye again once or twice during the meal. She would simply give me that I-know-something-you-don't-know look that, this time, got on my nerves.

My thoughts turned back to the grisly passage in my book. As much as I wanted to forget about it, I found myself actually wanting to re-read it. I didn't know why it seemed to be so important to me, but there was that nagging feeling telling me that I needed to know more about it.

Completely against my nature, I flipped ahead in the book and read the part where Odysseus stuffed his mens' ears with bee wax and tied himself to the mast. It said that when he heard the sirens' singing, he cursed at his crew and swore at them and ordered them to release him, so beautiful and tempting were their songs.

That was all good and well, I supposed, but there was something that I was forgetting. Something, something, SOMETHING! Something that I had known a while ago, but, for the life of me, couldn't recall now.

When we all left the dinner table and headed to our rooms for the night, the first thing I did was dig out my laptop from my bag and connect the hotel's wireless connection. From there I went to Wikipedia and typed in "Sirens." If there was anything that could tell me what I was forgetting, it was that web site.

Mostly I just got what I had already known; Sirens were Sea Nymphs that lured sailors in to the cliffs and rocks with their beautiful and hypnotic singing voice. The page went on to give a summary of the adventure of Odysseus, the one that I had already read, and so therefore disregarded. It also added that the Sirens were said to be affiliated with birds, because of their voices. Sometime they would be a woman with the body of a bird, or a bird with the head of a woman.

Bored and not finding whatever it was I as looking for, I was about to try Googling it when something I had accidentally overlooked near the top of the page caught my eye.

_"However, later in history Sirens were sometimes also depicted as beautiful women (whose bodies, not only their voices, are seductive), or even as mermaids (half woman, half fish). The fact that in some languages (such as Spanish, French, Italian, Polish or Portuguese) the word for mermaid is Siren, Sirène, Sirena, Syrena or Sereia adds to this confusion. In English however, "Siren" does not commonly denote "mermaid"._

I sat back and scowled as the nagging feeling suddenly disappeared to be replaced with an oddly mixed feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment that meant that I had found what it was that I was trying to remember, and annoyance that it made me think of that boy again.

Talk about your annoying coincidences. This was ridiculous. But at least I didn't have to put up with that annoying nagging feeling anymore.

I sighed and checked my mail (I had a couple of spam letter and some forwards, but nothing of real interest) before powering down my computer and putting it away. My mind comes up with the strangest things sometimes….

That night I dreamed of the ocean and the cries of women and children as their husbands and fathers stared back at them, lifeless corpses bobbing about, half decayed and waterlogged in the waves as they crashed against the cliff walls of the cove I had been in that morning. The grey ocean water was slowly being stained red form all of the bloated men floating on the water like oddly shaped corks.

In the background, carried by the wind, I could hear the strains of a melody, beautiful and sad, calling for long lost days to come back to the owner of the voice and set them free.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I noted that it was not a female voice singing, but rather a male's.

Suddenly, a loud growl permeated my dream, it's volume near defining, and a sharp pain tore though my stomach-

I woke with a start, panting and sweating, with a small whimper that I was unable to catch in time.

I was standing at the door to my room, one hand on the knob, ready to turn. I thought that I could still smell the salty breeze for a second, and I was almost positive I heard the last few faint strains of that song fading into the night.

I figured that I hadn't woken all the way yet.

As I stood there in my pajama bottoms, staring blankly at the door and waiting for my brain to catch up and tell me what the hell I was doing, the growling noise I had heard in my dream, accompanied by the pain in my stomach, hit me again, though this time it wasn't nearly as loud.

My stomach was growling. I _knew_ I wasn't going to be comfortable if I didn't eat, though I was slightly glad. My hunger pains had stopped me from sleep walking, possibly to my death on the stairs. (I wasn't sure if I could operate the elevator in my sleep)

Shaking my head (and wondering how many times I had walked around my house in my sleep without realizing it, since this was the first time I had ever woken where I wasn't supposed to be.) I wandered over to grab my bag and pull out a candy bar I had stuffed in there and munch on it. I moved the curtain on the window slightly so that I could see that it was just barely dawn, not even light enough yet for me to see my room mate, though I could hear him snoring away perfectly fine.

I could see, however, tinted by a faint, almost non-existent pink glow, the cliffs around the cove I had visited the day before.

With a rather unsettling feeling as the images from my dream came back to me with unusual clarity. I decided to head in the opposite direction that day, screw my assignment and whatever it may have to do with the water.

Sighing to myself, I booted up my computer and played solitaire until it was a reasonable hour to go downstairs and get some breakfast.

Same as the day before, we all split up and left the hotel to go and…do whatever. This time, instead of dancing in and out and around the crowd, I went with the flow and found myself playing a game I couldn't remember playing since I was a child. It was of my own invention, and, better still, only required one person to play.

A young woman brushed past me, blond ponytail bouncing, expensive and stylish sunglasses perched on her nose, even though the sky was a bit grey that morning. She was holding a large red leather bag and wearing a smart white button up and scarf with black caprice pants.

Not a mother yet, I concluded. In fact, by the way she walked, with sharp, quick strides, I was willing to bet she didn't even have a boyfriend at the moment.

To bad. She looked like she could use a good fuck.

A man with a huge balding spot, plushy pink skin, a suit, brief case, and a reservoir of sweat pouring off of him brushed past me, muttering to himself in a distracted manner.

He was late. His car had probably broken down or he had missed the correct bus. He was a kiss-ass, the kind of little, greasy, oily man who agreed with everything their boss said (while gossiping behind their back, just like everyone else) just so he could get a raise so he could buy that new Mercedes and brag about it as he teed off on the put-put course with his "buddies" who secretly laughed at what a miserable little bastard he was.

A laughing redhead with two freckled children caught my eye next as they strolled past me, one chubby little hand clutched in each of her own. The two children (twins, by the looks of it, one a boy and the other a girl) were lapping contentedly at an ice cream cone apiece, vanilla and chocolate respectively.

She looked so happy it was almost sickening. I followed her with my eyes, even going so far as to turn and walk carefully backwards (pedestrians, out of my way), so I could watch her as she greeted a tall, charming looking man with an enthusiastic kiss, which he returned with a bright smile.

(I noted that neither of the children seemed to share any of his physical features, and that, upon noticing them staring solemnly up at him, his smile had faded drastically.)

( He was probably the gardener of the pool man.)

Snorting to myself (people never really changed. A person may be good, but people were pure Evil), I turned back around to see what other dredge of humanity I could spot-

- and ended up smashing my nose right into someone's shoulder.

The Person, (A tall guy wearing a "School of Rock" t-shirt) "Ooofed" in surprise as I stumbled backwards, holding my nose.

"Hey, Watch it!" I snapped at him, not even bothering to look up at him. I pushed around him, making sure to knock his shoulder with mine to emphasize my displeasure with the fact that he had been in my way.

"Sorry!" Mr. SoR said from behind me, sounding amused. I froze mid step. His voice was smooth and musical, and very pleasing to the ear. "I guess I just wasn't watching where you were going…."

I spun around with an annoyed rebuttal ready in my mind (something about that line of his being lame enough for me to have used in Kindergarten) but the words died on my lips as my eyes locked with amused sea green eyes.

The same sea green eyes I had stared at in the cove….

I ended up yelping a surprised "You!" Instead. Before I could stop my self, my eyes traveled down his body to his legs.

Yes, they were legs.

No scales, or fins, or tail.

Just flesh and bone legs.

I released the breath that I didn't know I was holding.

"_Stupid…_" I rebuffed myself somewhat angrily. "_You already knew that. Why the hell did you check?"_

"I should hope it's me…" He said cheerfully, still grinning at me. I felt a small shiver run down my spine at the sound of his voice.

What the hell?

"If I wasn't me" he continued "I might have a problem. I don't want to be anyone else."

At that point, I realized two things.

One, he had a very thick accent, though not bad enough to make him unintelligible.

Two, I was nodding vigorously, agreeing with absolutely everything he said.

Once again, what the hell?

I stopped nodding at once, scowling. He grinned a bit wider at me.

I frowned up at him.

Then I turned around and began to walk off. I had proved to myself that he didn't have a tail (though _why_ I had had to prove this was completely beyond me) so there was no longer a reason for me to stay.

"Wait!" He called, falling in step with me instead, and I found that, even for the few seconds it took him to pull up level with me, I did pause and wait on him.

(damnit!)

I glared at him again and arched an eyebrow instead of gracing him with a worded question. Most people would have given me a dirty look and went ahead and asked their question to go ahead and gotten it over with.

Not him though. Never him.

"You know…" He told me cheerfully, and I felt that shiver go down my spin again, only this time it was harder and…more pleasant? "You owe me an apology for dropping in on me like that yesterday. You scared me half to death!" He pouted at me, though I could still see amusement bright in his eyes. He was laughing at me, the bastard!

I caught myself starting to nod again in agreement with him. I think nearly every muscle in my body seized as I tensed, stopping myself.

"No." I said tersely, and his face slackened briefly in surprise, as if he _really_ hadn't been expecting that. "I don't owe you anything."

I walked away again, sure this time that he wouldn't follow.

But he did.

I didn't notice him catch up with me at first. I had pulled out the paper with the clues on it and was re-scanning it. I didn't get very far before it was snatched out of my hands.

"Hey, what's this?" He asked, looking at it curiously, tilting it first this way and then that, as if he couldn't read it.

It was no wonder. He had it upside down.

After a moment, he seemed to realize this, and he righted it before looking at it again. I tried to snatch it back, but he held it out of my reach. I was not about to degrade myself to playing a childish game of keep-away with a complete stranger in the middle of a street in a foreign country (not that I would have done it with him had I known him and we were in my house back home, but whatever). So I just kept quiet and glared at him. (For a change.)

(Note the sarcasm.)

"Oh!" He cried out finally, a childish delight crossing his features and making him (I'll admit, as long as you don't repeat it to anyone) Kind of Cute. "I know what this one means!" He pointed at the second riddle. I felt a sharp sting of jealousy. I'm one of the smartest in my class, and I had skipped a grade or two in high school. However, he could figure this out before I could?!

Then I slapped myself mentally. Well of course he would know before I did. He lived here and I didn't right?

"The vineyards!" He told me without prompting. I blinked. He grabbed my hand. "Come on!" He continued, gripping tighter as I tried to yank away. "I can show you were they are!"

"No thanks." I told him, digging in my heels. "I can find it myself." He frowned back at me, looking a little confused as to why I wasn't going with him. He gave my arm one more useless tug before letting it go slack with a huff. He didn't let go, but either way, I figured I had won that one. He had surrendered, right?

Well, no, not exactly.

He began to hum softly to himself, as if he were thinking of something. It wasn't the same song he had been singing the day before, but I figured even jingle bells would have sounded like Beethoven's fifth coming form his throat..

I found my own body relaxing as I couldn't help but listen to him. He didn't seem to notice and just kept humming gently to himself. It was like I was the only person who could hear him.

For some reason that thought made me feel really special. I didn't bother to wonder why, though I really should have.

After a moment, I couldn't really remember what I had been angry with him about in the first place.

Another moment and he was tugging me by my arm through the crowd again, and this time I followed without protest, content to stay near him as long as I could still hear that beautiful voice of his.

My head was in a fog the whole time he was taking me to…wherever we were going. I remember him asking me my name, and I vaguely remember answering "Zexion." I think he had laughed and said something about it having to many syllables, telling me that instead he was going to call me "Zexy." I think I nodded.

Thinking was like trying to wade through really deep water when you're half asleep. I _was _aware, however, of his soft, gentle, _beautiful_ humming the entire time, save for when he paused to talk to me.

He asked me another question, and I think I nodded again, but I didn't remember what it was that I was saying yes to.

All I remember is blurs of colors, the murmur of something that might have been voices, might have been traffic, might have been anything else. A bomb could have gone off and I wouldn't have realized it. All I could really hear was his soft, soothing humming.

I remember entering someplace cool and air conditioned, and I remember him talking to someone, with me standing by, out of the way. I remember feeling an odd, irrational feeling of jealousy.

"_He should be talking to me."_ I remember thinking.

I think that was when I started to wake up.

" Why should I care if that asshole talks to me or anyone else? /I I asked myself as I felt him take my hand again and lead me like one leads the blind.

That's pretty much what I was. Blind. I was relying on him to guide me, and I didn't care where he took me as long as it was me he was paying attention to.

_"This isn't right. Something is very wrong here…."_

He was still humming.

Then, his lips were on mine. They were warm, gentle, almost caring.

He was still humming. Why wouldn't he stop humming?

_ What is wrong with this picture?_

His lips were trailing down my neck, leaving a trail of metaphorical fire in their wake, searing my skin, especially when his teeth would close roughly onto patches of skin and he would bite, only to let his tongue slip from between those beautiful lips of his to sooth it. It felt ohhhh, so good. I heard myself moan, felt the vibrations in my throat, but other than that it was like I was a bystander watching my body do these things. I was beginning to pant….

His hands, cool and dry, slipped up under my shirt, pulling the material up higher as the hand traveled across my abs (or lack there-of), stopping to roll one of my nipples between his fingers until they (and other body parts) began to harden. I felt myself shiver and press against him. One of his hands traveled down lower to slip into my jeans and cup my growing erection….

_ "Why am I doing this now, when half an hour ago I was pissed off at him?_

"No…." It was barely a whisper, and he ignored it, just hummed louder, trying, I guess, to drown out my protests as he messaged me though my boxers. I groaned and nearly gave in. I wanted to give in.

_ I have to give in….. _

"No…"I repeated a little louder and tried to push him away, but it was like my own body didn't want to cooperate with me.

_ You know you want this. Just relax. Everything will be fine, and you will feel oh so good….._

The fog I had been walking around in, however, was clearing. My mind wasn't moving so sluggishly slow.

"Stop it!" I told him, louder still, and managed to push him off of me and back a little ways, but I think that that is only because he wasn't expecting it.

I know he wasn't because if anyone ever looked surprised, it was him. He even stopped humming.

"What….the fuck?" I growled out between clenched teeth. He regained his composure, though he still looked surprised and even a little nervous.

I was beyond pissed though. Had he slipped me something somehow? I hadn't eaten or drank anything around him, but maybe it was something that could be inhaled or absorbed through the skin? I knew they made stuff like that, I just didn't really know what kind of stuff. It was a stretch of the imagination, but I would never be in the position I was in at that moment if I wasn't on something.

It was the only plausible explanation.

"I'm not sure what it was that you slipped me…." I told him after several seconds of glaring him down. "…but I have every right to report you to the police…." He blinked at me and tried a smile again.

"I didn't slip you anything…." He told me. I snorted.

"Oh, right, like I'm going to believe that." I snapped at him, backing up and looking for something I could use as a weapon if push came to shove. I'm not a pacifist by any means, but I'm not a physical fighter either. I usually don't have to. I can normally talk circles around anyone that I need to. He seemed to notice what I was doing, because he began to look decidedly nervous. He held up his hands in a peaceful gesture.

"I didn't drug you, though you were looking kind of out of it. It's possible you didn't sleep well last night, I guess was just didn't hear me proposition you…." I could tell he was lying. He was a bad liar, and he wouldn't look at me directly when he told me this. Instead he focused on a point just above my shoulder.

For some reason though, I was inclined to believe him.

I decided to just leave it at that and leave before something else happened.

I didn't say anything, just turned and stormed out, leaving him standing there, in the middle of the hotel room he had brought me to.

I just hoped I could find my way back to _my _hotel.

I couldn't help but smile grimly to myself.

"_He was quite the little siren indeed,"_ I thought sarcastically.


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh wow. Hi. I am not dead, nor have I gone to the ends of the earth, found a giant jelly-glob monster, and introduced it to..er….yeah, I just read this and realized how lame I am when I'm hyper. **

**Okie-days, I needs a beta for this story. I was just reading over it and I realized how terrible it actually is. Even if someone didn't want to necessarily beta for me, a chat buddy to talk to for ideas and to keep me motivated to update this sucker would be greatly appreciated, even if all they did was insult me. If it gets the job done, it gets it done, lol**

**Intermission**

"Well, that went well." He tells her sarcastically. She just rolls her eyes and continues to watch the images shimmering in the water.

"I didn't expect him to take to it right away. Zexion tends to be a little….standoffish, for lack of a more polite word." She tells him over her shoulder as the boy reflected in the bowl storms down road after road, looking this way and that before recognizing where he is.

"So, then, why on Olympus did you stick him with-"

"You'll see." She cut him off with a wide grin.

"you are getting some kind of sick, perverse pleasure out of this, aren't you?" he sighs, tiny wings fluttering as he sits on a marble chair to her right. She chooses not to answer as she shifts the water slightly. The image flickers and ripples and changes until she is staring at the blond young man as he watches Zexion through a window until the young human disappears into the crowd. He turns away with a sigh and heads back down the stairs, looking baffled, slightly hurt, and, most importantly of all (to her at least) more than a little intrigued.

"This is working out beautifully." She cackles, causing her companion to give her another of his patented "you-are-crazy-bitch" looks he reserves just for her.

**Arc One: Tail of the Siren**

**Part Three**

I ended up storming around town for a while, completely at a loss as to my location and, as much as I hated to admit it, a little sexually frustrated. I didn't recognize the place that asshole had taken me to (of course), and it made me even angrier when I realized that the place I had just left was, in fact, some hotel. He had obviously intended to just fuck me and leave me. He hadn't even bothered to give me his name, that bastard! (not that I even gave as shit as to what his name _was_, of course, it was just the principal of the matter.)

After a while of wandering around I thought briefly about stopping and asking for directions, but I was sure that if I kept walking I would find my way beck. I mean, Santorini wasn't really all that large and anyway, I knew that if I could find that cave again, I would find the hotel. All I had to do was follow the cliffs.

Nodding to myself in thought, I headed in the direction of the ocean. After that, it didn't take me long at all to find a familiar road.

Thank God for making me a genius.

As I strolled along in the general direction of our temporary residence, I thought back to my 'homework' assignment. So, according to the third 'Riddle' she wanted me to ….take a picture of a siren. It sounded like she was just trying to make me look stupid…or, I thought, maybe I could find a statue of a siren….perhaps _that_ was what she was up to?

Oh, what was I saying? Of _course _it was! What else could it have been? I felt like hitting myself.

Speaking of those riddles, The Guy had told me that the second one was in reference to the Vineyards. Now that he brought it to my attention, I could see how he would come to that conclusion. I glanced at my watch. I had the time to go up there and take the picture. It was a bus ride away, but I could get there and back in a matter of about two hours, I estimated.

As it turns out, I was half an hour off. The bus was leaving right as I got on, and it didn't take me all that long to find the place I was looking for. Much to my surprise, I found that the Vineyards were rather interesting, and the people who ran it were friendly; I made a mental note to look up more about them on the 'net later. I ate lunch in a small café somewhere in the town. It was a nice little shop, cozy and homey. I sat in a table near a window and played my game, picking out people form the crowed and trying to guess their sins. I didn't try and tell myself that I right. I knew that I probably wasn't, But it was still a fun game for me to play, I guess, a way to assure myself that I wasn't the only one with sins on his soul.

When I tired of my game, I pulled out the riddles and crossed out the second one, focusing instead on the third.

After an hour of staring all I had to show for it was a headache. I decided to just forget about this part of my assignment for the moment. I would finish it the next day, since it was our last day on that particular island before we took (and here I shuddered) a _boat_ ride to the next island.

I hate boats.

I spent a good portion of my day sitting in a window seat, nursing a frappe and people watching. At one point an elderly couple came and sat down near me, holding hands and looking adoringly at each other. I smiled slightly before going back to staring out the window. I may avoid people around my own age, but at least I have respect for my elders, which is more than I could say for most of my generation.

I left when the staff began to look at me strangely and whisper behind their hands. I ignored them for the most part, but I still preferred to leave of my own violation as opposed to being kicked out. I headed back to the hotel. The trip back seemed much shorter then the trip coming, as most do.

I headed back up to my room and took a shower before grabbing my book and settling down to read.

This time I ignored my room mate and he pretended I didn't exist.

I left before he did, just before we were all to meet downstairs for dinner. I wanted to catch the Professor by herself, if it was at all possible, and ask her about that riddle.

As luck would have it, I nearly ran into her in the lobby.

"Ah! Zexion!" She chirped, and I cringed on the inside. "Can I help you with anything?" It was like she read my mind.

"Yes." I told her, "It's the assignment you gave us…" She tilted her head to one side and motioned for me to sit down with her on one of the hideously colored chairs. I did so, pulling out the riddles, laying them on the table and pointing the last one out to her. "Are you serious?"

She blinked and laughed. "Why of course I'm serious, silly." I bit my lip to keep from growling at her.

"You want a picture of a siren?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. I never once considered that I had gotten the answer wrong, since I just didn't make mistakes.

"Yup."

"……You mean a statue or painting of one, right?" I said asked. The vagueness annoyed me not end. She would have to be more specific if she expected us to do well on this little escapade of hers.

"Why Zexion, why on Earth would you think that?" I couldn't rightfully tell if she was joking or not. There was absolutely no sarcasm in her voice what so ever.

"…………"

"……….."

"……….."

"….never mind." I stood, scooped up the paper, and walked back up to my room. I knew from a whole year of class that she could be outlandish and…scary. Very, very scary.

Dinner passed much like the one the night before had, except this time I left all book in the room, avoided any thoughts of floating corpses before the food came, and ordered a salad. When we got back up to our room, I played solitary on my computer, checked my e-mail, and read a little off of before going to bed. My body must have been more worn out than I had thought it was, because I fell asleep almost immediately.

_I dreamed of the ocean again. I was on a ship, on old one too, if the build and shape of it was anything to go by. It was night, and the stars were out, the full moon casting everything into it's silvery, iridescent light, making all it touched glow._

_I knew it was a dream, not because of the style of the boat, or because I was wearing the type of clothes you only see on the ancient marble statues in museums, or the old paintings; I knew because I was __**on**__ a fucking __**boat**__ and neither hyperventilating nor having a panic attack. _

_Or tied down._

_I fucking __**hate**__ boats. _

_But in this one, a sense of calm was settling over me. The sound of the waves lapping gently at the wooden sides of the ship was lulling and peaceful, and the salty breeze was crisp and cool. And the best part was, I could see the shore from where I was standing, leaning on the wooden, damp railing. It felt…odd…seeing the shore…like…I hadn't seen it in a very long while…but now I could….now I was going home, until the Ocean called me to it's bosom once again…._

_I closed my eyes peacefully, letting a smile play about my lips and the cool breeze wash over my face caressingly, like, I thought, in a continuation of my oddly poetic mood, the touch of a lover, beckoning you near. _

_As I stood there in the peaceful night, I slowly became aware of a light, gentle sound being carried on the breeze- singing. And not the singing that had haunted my other dream, not just the one lonely, pleading voice, but many voices, loving, welcoming, beckoning us closer, telling us of the delights that awaited us on the shores, if we would just come, only a little close…._

_"No!" I yelled out loud to them, but they didn't heed me. "Shut up! You're lying!" I knew they were, the book had said so! I covered my ears form the sweet, sweet music, trying desperately to block it out._

_"We need to go…" I looked over my shoulder to see one of my crew mates standing by my side, his eyes glassy and fixed on the shore. My heart sped up as I realized that others were coming up from below deck as well, called forth and ensnared by the lovely sounds. _

_"We need to go….they're calling us!" he turned to me with an excited light in his dull eyes. "Listen! Can't you hear the promise in their voices? Just think of it!" I shook my head vigorously, not even stopping to give thought to the fact that neither of us were speaking a language I knew. It just seemed natural in the dream, as so many odd things do._

_"No! No, No!" I told him, grasping his shoulders and shaking him. "It's a trap! Can't you see it?! They're lying to you!" I felt the wind pick up, cold and bitter, blowing us towards the cliffs as the helmsman directed us towards the voices. "STOP!" I screamed, panicking. "You're going to get us all killed!!! STOPSTOPSTOP!!!"_

_"he's lying to you." The voices sang. "He just wants us all for himself. He's greedy and jealous and doesn't want to share…." My heart was beating so fast I thought it would quit as every face on the boat turned towards me with an expression of loathing. _

_"No!" I cried, trying to be louder than the hypnotic voices. "I'm trying to save you! Save us! Don't you understand!?" _

_"Lies!" The voices sang, so much louder than my own. "You must get rid of the traitor! Throw him to the sea!"_

_"NO!" I screamed again, terrified as my crewmates, my friends, my brothers, all lurched towards me as one, hands grabbing my and lifting me and tossing me, down ,down into the rough and choppy waves before I could even comprehend- _

_I hit the salty water with a splash, sinking beneath the surface, struggling against it's cold, loveless hold. Bubbles of precious air escaped my mouth as I desperately tried to claw my way to the top, to air, but I didn't know which way was up, the shadow of the large ship blocking out any light form the moon that might have shown me the way._

_My head was pounding and I knew I was drowning, and there was nothing I could do but struggle against the grip tightening around my stomach…._

_…and then I was breaking the surface, the gritty feeling of sand beneath my soaked skin and clothes never a more welcome feeling. _

_The grip around my waist turned out to be a real grip, not of the sea, but of a person._

_ "__**one of them came back for me…."**__I thought with a relieved sob as I heaved up a mouthful of seawater. The hands geld my hair back from my face for me as I shuddered and heaved. When my lungs and stomach were empty of the intrusive water, I opened my mouth to thank whoever it who had pulled me from what I had been sure was going to be my watery grave, but I was interrupted by a loud groaning sound, the sound of waterlogged timber splitting and cracking. _

_I turned in time to see the ship hitting the rocks, the unrelenting, unforgiving stone, huge holes appearing in the hull, water rushing in, pulling it down further and further….._

_And then I was standing on the beach of that little cove, and the cries of women and children as their husbands and fathers stared back at them, lifeless corpses bobbing about, half decayed and waterlogged in the waves as they crashed against the cliff walls of the cove I had been in that morning. The grey ocean water was slowly being stained red form all of the bloated men floating on the water like oddly shaped corks, the eyes of my friends, my brothers, my crewmates (but not in that particular order) staring blankly back at me, their eyes full of shock and horror as in their last minuets, they realized what was going on and that it was to late for them to escape their fate…_

_And I could have saved them if I had just tried harder._

I woke from my dream with a jolt, but the terrible rushing, roaring sound of the sea didn't go away, nor did the gritty feeling of the damp sand shifting between my fingers.

It took me several minuets of staring to realize that the hotel ceiling had never been that high up, nor had it ever appeared to be a very, very dark shade of navy blue….

And where those stars?

I sat up quickly enough to nearly give myself whip-lash, looking around in alarm. I was in that little cove, laying in the damp, loose sand on the tiny sliver of beach, the waves moving in and out several feet from where I sat.

What. The. Fucking. Hell?!

How the fuck had I gotten there?!

I was still slightly disoriented from sleep and images of my dream still flitted in and out of my waking mind. Waking up in a completely different place than I had gone to sleep in had me in a panic. How had I gotten there? Why had I gone there in the first place? My breath was coming in frightened, short gasps. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before, and after the dream I had just had about that very location, it was the _last_ place I wanted to be.

I stood up, but winced as soon as I placed my weight on my feet, a small yelp of pain forcing it's self past my lips. I obviously hadn't thought to put any cloths on while sleep walking. I was still in my loose pajama bottoms.

Unfortunately, that was all I was wearing.

Because I hadn't put any shoes or even socks on, the climb down the slope, with all of the loose, sharp rocks, among other things, the bottoms, sides, and even a little of the tops of my feet were torn, scratched and bloody. The sand that was getting into the cuts and tears wasn't really helping either.

I looked up the slope and cliffs surrounding me and winced. No way was I climbing back up there in this state…I looked out to the ocean. I couldn't get out that way either. Something not many people know about me is that I have a fear of deep water.

Why, you ask, would I be so afraid of something so mundane and harmless as water?

I …uh…can't swim.

Did you even stop to wonder _why_ I hate boats so much? (if you did, kudos for you.)

I shifted my weight to one foot and yelped. I had to find a way to clean the cuts out, anyway, since I didn't want infection, and standing there in the sand and who-know-what-else was probably one of the best ways to get it. Limping more than a bit, I picked my way slowly to where the cliffs met the water. Several Large boulders were poking out there, half in the water and half on the beach. Picking the largest, flattest and safest looking one, I pulled myself up on it and rolled up the legs of my pants before gingerly dipping my feet into the salt water.

It fucking hurt.

I inhaled sharply, not allowing myself to cry out again, though it did bring tears to my eyes briefly. I knew, though, that until I could put antiseptic on it, sea water was my best bet for getting rid of any germs or infections.

I clung to the rock as if my life depended on it, my fingers cramping after several minuets. I have always had this irrational fear that one day something was going to leap from the water and take me down with it. My parents had always wondered why I avoided the water every time they took me to the beach on Summer vacation, but they had always chocked it up to my normal avoidance of other children. The California sands and surf, after all, did tend to be more than a little crowded.

I kept my feet as close to the surface of the water as I could and still have them submerged, just in case something were to suddenly reach up and try to grab me. At least then I would know and could pull my feet back in time.

I swear, if you are laughing at me, you had better stop it right now. This fear is perfectly rational, and absolutely no laughing matter.

I'm serious!

It didn't really help that, over the sound of the waves washing in and out, I heard a sound that sounded suspiciously like a splash.

I yanked my feet out of the water quickly, wincing as they bumped against the smooth, water worn surface of the rock. I had read that sharks could sense and drop of blood in the water from quite a long distance away, and I didn't feel like having my feet bitten off, thank you.

I wondered nervously how high sharks could jump.

"What are _you _doing out here at this time of night?"

I jumped, yelping in a rather…undignified….manner, before realizing that the sound had been a question, not the hungry roar of some dreadful aquatic beast bent on making me it's next easy meal…wait….question?

Ah, shit, I knew that voice. It just figured that _he_ would be here….

"I could ask you the same question." I snapped back, looking around for him. He was floating on his back a short distance from my rock, looking up at me. My ire toward him rose as I realized that _he_ must have caused that earlier splash.

In a flash of embarrassment, I hoped that he hadn't seen me pull my feet out of the water like I had, or heard my panicked yelp, though I knew by the smirk on his face that it was an empty hope.

"You could." he told me, and I found with a startled distaste, that the sound of his smooth voice made me significantly calmer. "but I asked first so it wouldn't really matter."

Jerk.

I glared at him and after a few seconds of silence before he shrugged lightly.

"Suit yourself." He said and turned, swimming leisurely and (much to my jealousy) easily away from me.

I felt panic beginning to rise up in my chest again. He couldn't just leave me here by myself with the….water!

Ok, you can seriously stop laughing at me now, it's not funny.

"I was sleep walking." I called out quickly, before he could leave. I didn't like him, nor did I like his company, but I liked being alone with the water and the things _in_ the water even less.

He stopped and turned around, and I thought that, for a brief instant, I caught a glimpse of-

No, I had disproved that that afternoon.

"Sleep walking?" He repeated, his voice a mixture of skepticism and amusement. I glared at him.

"Yes, sleep walking. Trust me, I wouldn't be anywhere near here otherwise." I snapped grumpily. He just grinned.

"Awww….I think you were looking for me the whole time and you're just to shy to admit it." He teased, swimming in closer and laughing at me when I made a face at him. Even so, I felt myself beginning to relax, maybe even smile ba-

No! No no no no no, not going there again.

"Whatever." I snorted at him. "I wouldn't touch you with a sixty foot pole." He gave me a wounded look.

"Awww, that's mean, Zexy." He told me, mock petulantly. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Don't call me that."

"You said I could earlier."

"I was drugged earlier."

He rolled his eyes at me and giggled a bit. "I told you, you weren't drugged."

"I was to." I snapped back stubbornly. "You slipped me something. I wouldn't have agreed to whatever it was I was about to do if I wasn't."

"Of course not." he agreed sarcastically. "This is _you _we're talking about…" I frowned, trying to think up a retort, but all that came to mind was that his ability to get me to relax the way he did, just by talking, was absolutely ridiculous….

In fact, I had relaxed so much, I almost didn't notice that I was slipping off the rock.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" I yelped, scrambling backwards until I nearly fell over onto the beach. The Guy (who's name I _still_ didn't know, by the way) was watching me with alarm.

"What?!" he asked, expression surprised and alert. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and bit back the blush that I just _knew _was threatening my face (I _refused _to blush in front of this…this…._guy!_)

"I was about to fall into the water." I muttered, as if it were no big deal and I hadn't just screamed loud enough to wake the dead. He gave me and odd look and laughed.

"What's wrong with that?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I don't want to get wet." I replied, scooting closer to the edge of the rock, not to far, for fear that I would fall again, but close enough for me to cautiously re-dip my feet back into the water.

He looked at me like I was nuts. "You yelled that loud because you were about to get a little wet?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes." I said blankly. Well, it wasn't like it was a lie, exactly. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at me.

"….Aaaaand?" he asked in a sing song tone. I glared and he just stared right back.

"And?" I said coldly.

"And there is something you are leaving out of that explanation…" he said coaxingly.

"I don't know what you are talking about." I said blankly. He shrugged and swam a little closer to me.

"Well, fine." He said with a smug little smirk that I _defiantly _didn't like. Before I could figure out what he was up to, however, I found myself submerged once again in the dark, inky ocean.

That bastard! He had pulled me in!

Unlike in my dream, this time I was able to claw my way to the surface. I grabbed hold of the first thing I could to keep myself afloat…which, unfortunately, just so happened to be him.

I didn't really care at the moment though, and immediately wrapped my arms around his neck and clung to him, pressing as close as possible.

"Hey! Whoa!" He yelped, surprised, as my nails (or lack there of) dug into his shoulders. "This afternoon you were ready to punch me and now you-"

"SHUT UP I CAN'T SWIM!" I snapped at him, not particularly caring if my voice was a few octaves higher than it should have been. I was in the water, damnit!!! THE WATER!

It was fucking trying to eat me!!!!

One of his arms immediately went around my waist, helping me stay afloat.

"Shit, why didn't you say something?" He asked, his eyes wide. I glared at him, claming down slightly now that I couldn't slip back down underwater any second.

"Because most people don't go pulling complete strangers underwater for that VERY FUCKING REASON!" I yelled. He winced. My mouth was rather close to his ear. This knowledge pleased me.

"I'm sorry…." He said, his shoulders slumping. "I just assumed you knew how….almost everyone else does these days.

"Fuck you, you're an asshole." I grumbled. "I don't happen to live very close to the water like everyone else here."

"Oh."

We kind of floated there in silence for a few moments, and I was about to suggest (demand) that he take me back to nice solid ground (I wasn't going to admit it to anybody, least of all myself, but I kept expecting the dead bodies from my dream to turn up and start floating around…) when something cold and _defiantly_ covered in scales brushed my foot lightly.

"SHIT! THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE WATER WITH US!" If I had been calming down before, I certainly wasn't calm after that. In fact, I think even _he_ had some trouble keeping afloat with me practically trying to climb his body like that.

"Calm down!" He yelped, trying to hold he in place, probably so I wouldn't accidentally make him lose his grip and sink again. "It's fine! You're ok! There are lots of things in the water-"

"Oh what a great help you are!"

"-but as long as you're with me, none of them will hurt you!"

God, this guy really needed his confidence taken down a notch. I will give him an A for effort (which is a dumb expression because Effort starts with an E and not an A, but that's completely beside the point.) when it came to calming me down, but the A dropped to a D when he started combing his fingers through my hair.

It didn't drop to an F because it actually felt good and, as much as I hate to admit it, it worked. I stopped struggling (but only because I had to concentrate on getting his hand out of my damn hair!) but I think I was still gripping his shoulders hard enough to leave bruises, if the expression on his face was anything to go by.

Then, the asshole started humming again. What was he, some kind of ADD musician?

It was a different tune this time, more soothing than anything else,; in fact, it sounded kind of like a lullaby. Before I really knew what was going on, that compliable, foggy feeling was entering my brain, but this time, I didn't bother trying to fight it. Instead, I welcomed it, anything to distract me from where I was and who I was with. I think I even laid my head on his shoulder.

I do remember saying "You never told me your name, you know."

And I remember that the last thing I heard before I drifted off to sleep in his arms was "Demyx. My name's Demyx…."


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, this chapter is one big authors note, but I would appreciate it if you read it anyway. This fic is currently undergoing a complete and total re-do. I'm re-writing the entire thing, taking out things that just don't need to be in there, putting in better descriptions of the surrounding areas, since I did suck a crap-tacular job skimming over (or just plain ignoring) anything remotely descriptive in it's previous incarnations, exc, exc, yada yada. I'm also going to change it from a chapter story to one long huge one shot. So much editing must be done. Those changes among others will be taking place.**

**Now, to get to the real point of this note….I already have a friend reading over this for me, and I remember someone volunteering to beta the next few chapters for me back when I was actually posting on this thing ; I want more than one person looking over this, since I have such sucky luck with betas (they usually disappear without a trace at least a chapter or two in, so maybe I'm cursed?) and I was wondering if anyone had enough free time over this summer to read over it for me when I get it done? :3 Because I'm going to finish it this time if it kills me….(I actually already have the ending written out, I just need to get the middle part done XD)**


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